Chapter 89: The Treasure Room

Chapter 89: The Treasure Room
Sophie

I walk inside the open archway. The space in front of me is pitch black. Surprisingly, it is several degrees cooler despite being probably two hundred meters below ground and surrounded by calcified caves that drip endless water, making the other rooms hot with almost one hundred percent humidity.

Even without a light, I could tell the cavern was large. I didn’t feel cramped, and I could walk in without feeling like I would hit my head or bump into something. I stayed hugged to the entrance wall as some of the light from the lanterns in the other room spilled into the dark abyss of this cave.

Reese and Hunter waltzed in after me. I didn’t need to see their faces to know that they were pissed. I continued to hug the wall and slowly stepped further into the darkened space, hoping I might find a way to elude them. They raised their flashlights up to their heads and skimmed the area, illuminating the darkness. This cave was monster-huge. The beam of light that hit the ceiling was long. It bounced off a smoothed rock surface, unlike the surrounding cave formations. One of the lights traveled along the back wall until it shined directly in my eyes, making me shield them with my hand.

“There you are!” Reese teased. The light continued to glow in my face, blinding me. I heard footsteps quicken, and soon, an arm wrapped around my bicep in a bruising grip.

“Don’t you dare try to get away from me!” Reese barked, tightening his grip. I winced at the force.

“Let me go!” I tried to break free, but he only pulled me closer.

“Be a good girl, Sophie; otherwise, I will restrain you.” His threat was clear, and I swallowed that metaphorical bitter pill down my throat and relaxed in his hold. “Good girl,” he whispered, and shivers ran down my spine — not the good kind that tickles my spine as I get from the Anderson.

“Bring in the lights!” Hunter orders, and soon, the ten or so lackeys start bringing in a few generators and setting up these free-standing lamps. One of the men pulls the cord for the generator: one pull, two pulls, three pulls for the engine roars to life. The lamps are switched on, and the new cavern is dimly lit.

“Woah!” I say, along with everyone else's various gasps and shocked expressions.

“What the absolute fucking hell?” Reese says out loud in disbelief. He lets go of my arm and walks to the middle of the ample open space.

The dim light filtered the blackness— the large hollow space was easily the size of a football field in length and width and easily four stories tall. The stone was smooth and black, and the floor was pebbled rock. But what had Hunter and Reese angered was what was in this cave.

Nothing.

About ten giant carved stone slabs were placed in a line on either side of the cave, extending from the front to the back. I could make out small worn spots on the stone top that suggested they once held something through time.

There were three additional stone slabs close to the entrance where I still stood off to the side by me. They had cutouts, like pockets for storage. But all that remained looked like settled dust on the empty surfaces.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYTHING?” Hunter screamed into the giant cavern. His shrills echoed off the walls, bouncing back in an eerie echo.

I walked along the left edge, touching the smoothed stone encapsulating the room. Reese and Hunter started to argue, and the guards began to walk around the room, inspecting every nook and cranny, looking for any clue. I couldn't help but chuckle at this latest development. All this waiting for nothing. Serves them right! Assholes!

“BOSS! BOSS! I FOUND SOMETHING! OVER HERE, BOSS!” A man in a guard uniform screamed, waving his hand on the other side of the room like a crazed animal. Reese and Hunter ran over to the guy, along with several different men. I continued my leisurely stroll against the opposite wall.

About halfway down, I saw the same symbol as my pendant on the back of one of the slabs. It was small and off to the side. The shadows cast by the faint glow of the lights made it almost impossible to see.

As I walked up to it, there was a massive exploding sound. It rocked the whole room, and specks of rock began to trickle from the ceiling.

“What the fuck was that?” I heard one of the guards ask no one in particular.

Another explosive rumble was heard, and the room shook more forcefully. I balanced myself against the slab stone. I decided to sit against it, bringing my knees to my chest, hoping to wait out the chaos.

Reese and Hunter began barking orders for the guards to check it out.

“SOPHIE!” Hunter called. “FUCKING FIND HER! NOW!” he ordered. I could hear several running feet against the crunchy gravel. A guard came into view. Mostly, shadows hid me.

“SHE’S OVER HERE!” he yelled. I rolled my eyes at him. He kept his flashlight on me, and Reese soon appeared in front of me again.

“There you are,” he said with venom, picking me up by my arms, making me hiss with the pain. “Where the fuck is the treasure?” he asks me.
I raise my eyebrows.

“Excuse me?” I say in disbelief. “Do you really think that I had anything to do with this? Did your wet nurse smoke too much, or were you dropped too many times as a toddler?”

“Don’t fucking sass with me, Sophie. Where is the fucking treasure?” He barked again. I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I knew he was pissed off.

“I don’t know what you want from me, you jackass fart sniffer! YOU brought ME here. Before your fucked up family wormed their way into my life, I was living in peaceful ignorance. Maybe YOU fucked up? Ever think of that? Huh?” I spit in his face. “Son of a whoring bastard,” I mutter under my breath as I try to pull my arms free once more.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” he asked; his tone was bitter and clipped.

“Do you need me to speak slower English? Habla Espanol? Parle vu France?” I respond sarcastically.

“Why you little bitch,” Reese breathed out, and he raised his hand to strike. But just before he released his fury, a resounding POP! POP! POP! can be heard outside the chamber.

“We’re under attack!” A guard yelled, running into the cavern. I could barely see him down the cave, but I did see his insides explode like a geyser when his head was practically blown off in front of the lanterns.

“Shit!” Reese mutters and releases me, thankfully. He pulls out his gun from behind his back and looks at me. “Get down and stay down,” he orders before he steps away and heads toward the shooting. POP! POP! POP! I hear guns blazing, and bullets begin to ricochet off the stone walls.

“Team one to the left with Hunter, team two with me to the right, teams three and four, diamond position,” Reese barks out his orders. POP! POP! POP! I can hear gunfire exchange and many feet moving on the crunchy rocks.

POP! POP! POP!

“STAND DOWN AND WE WILL KILL YOU MERCIFULLY,” sang a beautiful masculine voice when the fury of bullets ceased momentarily. The same voice made my heart quicken, and my soul wanted to climb the mountain. I could recognize that voice from anywhere.

Asher.

Did he come to save me? Was I dreaming? No doubt Zion and maybe even Matlock were near him. But what if they only came for this treasure, too?

“SOPHIE!” I hear Zion scream before another slurry of gunfire flies through the open space. POP! POP! POP! “SOPHIE!” He continued to call out to me.

I wanted to scream for him, jump up and down like a crazy person; hell, I’d love to run straight into their arms, but with the raining bullets in the space, I was a moving target in a landmine of snipers and sharpshooters. POP! POP! POP!

I peeked my head over the slab, and I could make out Asher, Zion, and to my utter surprise Zach popping up and firing his weapons toward the Brutius scum. I could see Zach certainly had a few rounds with the twins since he is sporting a very black and blue face. I was not expecting that development. POP! POP! Two bullets hit the stone slab next to me. Shit!

“Team One, two down! Team Three, two down,” yelled some guards in the chaos. Another explosion with a thunderous BOOM echoed through the open doorway; the room shook, and dust fell from the ceiling again. “WE’RE OUTNUMBERED, BOSS!” another guard yelled.

While the boys were playing with their guns, I studied the small symbol on the slab. The emblem was grooved in, and looking closely, even with the many shadows cast from the minimum amber lighting, I could make out a faint little line—almost like a secret compartment.

POP! POP! POP! More bullets buzzed through the air. A few curses were thrown in between demands for surrender. I continued to study the small engraving. Then it clicked.
Could it really be that simple?

I leaned forward while pulling on the chain that held my mother’s pendant. I lined up the necklace with the engraving, and it was a perfect fit. I pressed the bejeweled pendant into the stone slab, and a small click was heard before I felt the stone give way a little, opening up a once-sealed mystery mini chamber no bigger than a hand. Inside was a piece of paper. I quickly grabbed it and hid it in my bra.

I put the panel back and peeked from behind the slab. A guard was lying face down, unmoving, with his gun limp in his hand. Reese’s back was turned to me as he continued his relentless assault on the Andersons, who were still reciprocating shots fired by the entrance.

I quickly tiptoed to the dead man on the ground, picked up the heavy gun in my hands, and pointed it straight at Reese. He spun around and looked at me as I took another step behind him.

“SOPHIE! NO!”

POP!